


Dream House

by neverending_c_tech



Series: NCT AU [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M, OT21 (NCT), bc of that there will be several nct references, bear with me haha, honestly this might be a long story but, im doing a lot of research for this story, its very time consuming but also helpful at the same time, pardon my dust, slowly but surely, so i hope you studied, this is my first story, uwu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24887002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverending_c_tech/pseuds/neverending_c_tech
Summary: For nearly half a decade, NCT Dream had touched countless hearts through their undying goal to encourage others to follow their own dreams with the help of their music. Those hearts shattered, however, once the dreadful news of the group's disappearance had spread.Despite all of their efforts, both the fans and remaining NCT members eventually became divided, rather than united. Since then, NCT Dream remained an unfortunate mystery.... until Sunni discovers the so-called "Dream House"."What does it mean to truly be human?"
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Na Jaemin/Original Female Character(s), Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Series: NCT AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800826
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> pls pls pls bear with me... this is my first story and i'm hoping for the best... also prepare for slow updates buuuuut enjoy
> 
> ~ M :)

BREAKING NEWS: NCT DREAM M.I.A.

_SM Entertainment:_

_We regret to announce to you that NCT Dream's Renjun, Jaemin, Jeno, Jisung, Chenle, along with Mark Lee and Haechan of both NCT Dream and 127, have been reported missing since 3 days of absence. Investigation is currently ongoing and we seek the cooperation of NCTzens to give their greatest support in this tough time.  
_

__

_Until further notice, all NCT units, along with WayV, will be put on hiatus until they are found._   


__

_We also give our condolences to families and NCT as we have lost seven beautiful dreams today._

_Thank you._  
-/-

"We have to find them!"

Taeyong frantically searched through his collection of evidence since the incident once again. His room was a complete mess, with scattered papers on his desk and clothes covering his floor.

Yuta, Jaehyun, and Doyoung were observing his growing state of panic from the comfort of their couch. They were the only ones who still maintained their cool.

"He broke," Yuta commented.

"It was bound to happen, he's beating himself up because he thinks he's an irresponsible leader." Jaehyun added.

Doyoung felt a giant wave of sadness.

"It's not his fault, it's already been weeks. We don't even know who's at fault, and the directors are no longer helping us because they gave up."

"We're the only ones who are left."

The three of them looked around and explored the rest of their dorms.

Winwin came to visit 127 last week since everyone was on hiatus, and was bawling from Taeil's room a few days ago.

Taeil slowly began drinking more as he began bringing bottles of beer and vodka into his room… He barely even left it, unless it was to hang out with Yuta or Winwin. He was the eldest of the group, anyway. Where did things even go wrong?

"Jeno was my favorite, but in reality, I really did love all of them like a mother." Doyoung admitted.

"Mark and Haechan were part of our family too." Jaehyun added, "They were all too young and they left too soon."

Winwin, Lucas, and Kun also had been watching fan-made videos of the NCT china line, which included Renjun and Chenle. They wanted to still think they were just lost, maybe just in a different county. They couldn't register the chance of them being gone forever. They felt like they could have done more to be there for them as hyungs… but it wasn't like you could time travel and save them, right?

Jungwoo passed out from exhaustion after long hours of crying himself to sleep. He felt immense levels of guilt and depression. He had to start taking medicine to keep himself from collapsing.

"And Johnny?" Yuta asked, turning his attention to Johnny's closed door at the end of the hallway.

Jaehyun didn't reply as he was trying to hold in his tears.

Johnny, on the other hand, was trying to distract himself by cleaning his room. When he finished, he could not help but notice the mess of a room that Haechan left behind. Johnny sat in his bed and experienced another rabbit hole of guilt and hatred towards himself.

It had hit him the most out of the NCT 127 members.

He grew up with Mark since their time as SM Rookies all those years ago. They weren't just members of a k-pop group… They were like brothers.

The same feeling went for Haechan as well. Johnny recently got much closer to Haechan than Mark, but Haechan brought out his motherly side.

Johnny felt deep inside that the three of them together, along with Jaehyun once in a while, felt like an inseparable family.

But now they're gone. Without a trace.

"Mark-ah, Haechan-ie, I'm sorry…" he whispered.

"I have **failed**."


	2. Characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been my favorite part of writing this story so far lol... love character development.
> 
> ~ M

**Chin-Sun**  
18 years old (19 in Korea)  
means "Seeks honesty and goodness in everything"  
" _I'm sorry that I caused a lot of trouble._ "

**Mark**  
Era: We Go Up  
Stuck as 19 years old (20)  
... Sentimental who's afraid of change ...  
" _What I'd do to remember my own memories..._ "

**Haechan**  
Era: BOOM  
Stuck as 19 years old (20)  
... Stressed and "Mature" with an identity crisis ...  
" _I just want to sleep forever._ "

**Renjun**  
Era: Ridin  
Stuck as 20 years old (21)  
... Savage yet Moody ...  
" _If you stay at least 3 feet apart from me, we should be good._ "

**Jeno**  
Era: We Young  
Stuck as 17 years old (18)  
... "Fun" and Protective ...  
" _I promise you, I'm the fun one._ "

**Jaemin**  
Era: Go  
Stuck as 18 years old (19)  
... Rebellious teenager yet a lover ...  
" _And I thought that I would maintain the moody and dramatic teenager stereotype._ "

**Jisung**  
Era: My First and Last  
Stuck as 15 years old (16)  
... Playful yet Lovesick ...  
" _How is he the youngest if he doesn't look like it?_ "

**Chenle**  
Era: Chewing Gum  
Stuck as 15 years old (16)  
... Pushover yet knowledgeable and sweet ...  
" _His laugh was the highlight of my day... It reminded me of a dolphin._ "

_the rest of NCT and WayV will make appearances!_


	3. Chin-Jin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're so young, they're so freaky...
> 
> They be screaming...
> 
> GO... READ THIS CHAPTER!

\--

Some time later...

"Felix."

"Here." a deep voice in the back of the classroom replied.

"Mina."

"Hello," a quiet voice near the classroom entrance replied.

"Lami."

"Hi hi!" a slightly overenthusiastic girl in the front row replied.

The teacher turned around, his back towards the students as he went down the attendance list.

A student quietly opened the door and tiptoed toward the back of the classroom, where there was a lucky empty seat in her reach.

 _Thank God that the door was slightly open..._ , she thought.

"Chin-Sun..."

"He-" she tried to call back before the teacher interrupted her.

"is late again."

_Crap. So close._

"Sir, I-"

"Saturday detention, and a phone call to your guardians. Sit."

 _Whatever, been there done that_ , she thought while she sat next to Jin-Joo, her best friend.

"Jin-Jin!" she whispered.

"Another tardy… What happened this time?" her best friend asked.

"Had to help Mr. Kim with his groceries. Valid excuse!" she fired back.

"What happened this time?" Jin-Joo repeated, sensing Chin-Sun's dishonesty.

"Kicked Bora's butt before he could lay a finger on Suk."

"Your brother can defend himself!"

"He. is. 10!"

The teacher let out a subtle grunt and glared at the two friends, then continued his lesson.

-/-

"Today, class, is a very special day... Can anyone tell me why?"

Various voices filled the classroom...

"Is it someone's birthday?"

"Are you getting married?"

**"Are you finally retiring?"**

The teacher returned that final comment with a death glare, and wrote that busted idiot who didn't know how to keep quiet a detention slip. Chin-Sun couldn't help but smirk internally, he deserved it, anyway.

"Today is a little more on the somber side, as today marks the 5th anniversary of the missing NCT Dream."

Half of the students looked confused, and the other half tried not to cry.

Chin-Sun glanced at Jin-Joo, who was trying to hold in tears while doodling the NCT Dream members.

Chin-Sun did enough research to know the basics:

\- NCT Dream was made of seven members  
\- They were an essential sub-unit of NCT... when NCT was still existing  
\- She liked their music, but Jin-Joo loved them wholeheartedly

The teacher's lecture began to muffle in Chin-Sun's mind as she flashes back to a few years prior...

\--

_"You know, I think if we ever met them, Mark would be the one to fall in love with you!"_

_"There's no way, Jin-ie!"_

_A younger Jin-Joo and Chin-Sun were having a late night sleepover at Jin-Joo's house. The best friends were looking through magazines and YouTube videos of the NCT Dream boys. A knock was heard at the bedroom door and Jin-Joo's mother popped her head in with a bowl of pretzels._

_"Hi girls, I thought you guys would like a snack!"_

_"Thank you, Mrs. Choi!" Chin-Sun replied back as Jin-Joo was handed the bowl of pretzels._

_"Of course!"_

_Mrs. Choi turned to her daughter._

_"Please don't get in trouble, either of you. I don't want your dad to do anything stupid." Mrs. Choi spoke in Korean, which Chin-Sun barely understood at the time._

_Jin-Joo stared at the floor, still holding the bowl, and reluctantly nodded._

_"I love you," Mrs. Choi said before kissing her daughter's forehead and closing the door on the way out._

_Chin-Sun popped some pretzels into her mouth. Jin-Joo was still staring off into space._

_"Jin-Jin, you okay?"_

_That managed to snap Jin-Joo out of her trance as she sat on her bed, also eating a couple pretzels._

_"Y-Yeah, don't worry about it." she reassured to her best friend in English._

_The good news was that Jin-Joo was obsessed with American television shows, especially Steven Universe and The Office. That was her easy method of learning an entire language apart from Korean._

_The bad news was that Chin-Sun had been in Seoul for barely five or six months when she moved from the United States. The Young family was still getting accustomed to the Korean culture, which was a big jump from the familiar American culture they've experienced for at least 11 years. Chin-Sun's parents quickly learned Korean pretty quickly, and her little brother Chin-Suk was already babbling random words in both Korean and English._

_Chin-Sun, on the other hand, was extremely more comfortable in English. She was 15 going on 16 by then, and was extremely self-conscious during the entire transition. Jin-Joo was one of the very few friends that truly understood her, and Chin-Sun couldn't be happier._

_The best friends went back to their laptops and magazines after devouring half of the pretzel bowl._

_"Down to business, who is our NCT biases?" Jin-Joo asked in English._

_Chin-Sun rolled her eyes in response._

_"C'mon, Sun-ni... We need to pick our 3 -- 127, WayV, and Dream!"_

_"I know, but when will be the one day that we don't talk 'bout NCT?"_

_"Someday. Maybe when they actually FIND NCT Dream..."_

_Chin-Sun awkwardly nodded as she scrolled through WayV's K-Pop profiles. She was still considered "the new girl" in Seoul, so she had just gotten into NCT. She did not know as much about NCT Dream's disappearance in comparison to Jin-Joo._

_Internally, Jin-Joo was extremely devastated... They had just finished their promotions for Ridin, and Mark had just rejoined Dream before they vanished... Chin-Sun was still in the long process of enjoying them completely, and Jin-Joo was still in the long process of realizing that there was a chance of never hearing from them ever again..._

__

_Heck, no one in the entire world has heard from NCT since their disappearance... and it had been about a half of a year since._

__

_Chin-Sun wanted to re-lighten the mood by saying:_

_"Okay then... WayV bias?"_

_Jin-Joo rolled around her bed while trying to think. All seven members were amazing in their own way._

_"Ah, WayV... my favorite C-pop group!"_

_"Mine will be Winwin... He needs more lines after looking back at 127's line distribution videos in their MVs!"_

_Jin-Joo giggled, glancing over Chin-Sun's shoulders as she scrolled through the website._

_"HIM."_

_Jin-Joo pointed at Chin-Sun's screen, her finger on Hendery's picture._

_"Huang Guanheng... he's like a prince!"_

_Chin-Sun laughed as she wrote down their biases on a small notebook._

_"Okay, and has our NCT 127 biases changed?"_

_"Nope, still love the one and only lion -- Nakamoto Yuta!"_

_Chin-Sun turned to their old page of NCT biases, with some names crossed off and repeated names written all over the paper. At the bottom of the page, it read:_

_"Yuta and... Jungwoo!"_

_"You know Jungwoo's still your bias!"_

_"Okay but Jungwoo's a literal softie, nothing wrong with that!" Chin-Sun took the pen from atop her right ear and clicked it, "Just gonna add one more name right next to it!"_

__Johnny_ , she wrote._

_"Two down, one to go!"_

_"DREAMIES!" Jin-Joo squealed._

_Chin-Sun quickly went to NCT Dream's K-Pop profile website and began scrolling through._

_"The name 'Dream' really suits them, since they're SUPER DREAMY!!" Jin-Joo commented._

_Chin-Sun nodded in agreement. One of the seven profile pictures caught Jin-Joo's eye._

_"Chenle!"_

_"T-the dolphin?"_

_Jin-Joo lovingly glared at me for a few moments and fell backwards into her bed._

_"Yes yes, the one and only dolphin. The dolphin with a voice like an angel's!"_

_Chin-Sun wrote Chenle's name on a new page of her notebook before she kept scrolling. Another one of the seven pictures caught Jin-Joo's eye, before she looked back at her best friend._

_"Hm,"_

_"What's up?"_

_"You know, if I really think about it..."_

_Chin-Sun looked up from her laptop for the first time in a long while to pay attention._

_"Y-Yeah?"_

_"If we ever do meet them, I feel like **Jaemin** would really like you!"_

_"What?!"_

_Jin-Joo reached her hand out to the laptop to scroll back to Jaemin's profile picture for Ridin. Chin-Sun took a few moments to recognize what a beauty Na Jaemin really was. His hair, his goofy yet loving personality, his adorable face..._

_"You realize they're only a little bit over our age, right?" Jin-Joo added, "We're a bit younger than Jisung, I think!"_

_"Get real, we're never even gonna get to meet them!" Chin-Sun laughed._

_"Mm, you're right... There's too many people in this city."_

_"Why do you think I moved here?"_

_The two of them laughed until their stomachs hurt._

_-/-_

_It was around midnight, and the two best friends were deep asleep._

_... until Jin-Joo quietly woke up._

_She noticed that Chin-Sun's laptop was still on and almost out of battery, so she used her own laptop charger to do her best friend a huge favor._

_Upon plugging in the charger, however, she noticed that her best friend's website was still on Jaemin's picture._

_Then, Jin-Joo glanced at the bias notebook and quietly turned to the new page..._

_and wrote **Jaemin** next to Chenle's name._

_She quietly put away the notebook and the laptop and returned to her deep slumber with a small smile on her face._

-//-

Present POV

The final school bell rang. Everyone's started to either head home or to their extracurricular activities.

"Your brother already took 2-3 years of martial arts, he should know how to defend himself!" Jin-Joo argued.

"Again, he's just 10, he's barely double digits, Jin."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'm sorry, I'm just really worried for him." Chin-Sun said, expressing her concern for her brother.

Jin-Joo and Chin-Sun had continued the conversation after school. Chin-Suk was the last bit of family that Chin-Sun had. Her extended family lived too far away, and she already saved enough money in both her job and her savings to take care of herself as well as her brother in a nice little apartment nearby.

Her parents… left _without a trace_.

-///-

"Speak of the devil…" Jin-Joo narrowed her eyes at the direction of the nearby playground.

**"Chin-Sun!"**

After waving goodbye to his friends, a young boy ran off the slide and towards the girls. He was barely half of Chin-Sun's height, and had side-swept raven hair, like Chin-Sun's.

"Hi hi!" he smiled.

"Suk-ie, are you okay?" Chin-Sun frantically scanned for any potential cuts or bruises or even broken bones.

"You just saw him **running** from the playground." Jin-Joo rolled her eyes "He's fine."

Chin-Suk smiled and quickly nodded in agreement.

-////-

With her peripheral vision, she noticed that her little brother was hiding something behind his back.

"Suk-i, what's that?"

Chin-Suk's eyes widened, trying to put whatever he was holding in his back pocket... but he kept missing the pocket.

Whatever it was, it couldn't stop **glowing**.

... and Chin-Sun couldn't take her eyes off of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god ahhhh this is so slow and kinda long and a lot to take in but pls pls enjoy :3
> 
> DREAMIES WILL POP IN SOON...
> 
> ALSO
> 
> NCT'S KICK AND RIDE FROM MUSIC BANK BUTTERED MY BREAD. Center Jungwoo and also Jaemin and Jeno under NCT U made my day!!
> 
> Catch that on Youtube ^^


	4. Characters (cont.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like I said... LOVE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!
> 
> hope this adds clarification so this story won't get too confusing heheheh

**Jin Joo**  
19 years old (20 in Korea)  
Best Friend | fellow + subtle NCTzen  
_"If it wasn't for me, you'd still be internally struggling in English."_

 **Chin-Suk**  
9 years old (10 in Korea)  
Little Brother | child prodigy  
_"And to think, the fact that I'm also almost a decade younger than you confuses me."_

 **Bora**  
17 years old (18 in Korea)  
FrENEMY | top banana  
_"Hold my apple juice."_

 **Felix | Mina | Lami**  
18-19 years old (19-20 in Korea)  
Aussie Dancer | Shy Singer | Outgoing Actress  
Trio known as "FeLaMina"  
_"Can't, got dance practice." | "S-Sorry." | "Hi hi!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH JULY IS A BUSY MONTH FOR ME
> 
> worry not, the next chapter is almost done :)
> 
> i wonder if anyone can guess my biases lol
> 
> ~ M


	5. Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OKAY WELL...
> 
> Apologies in advance because this is a long chapter... but it's for a good reason!
> 
> -
> 
> In short, you feel things, like a normal human being would, right?
> 
> Whether it'd be physical or mental... RIGHT?

\--

Whatever it was, it couldn't stop **glowing**.

… and Chin-Sun couldn't take her eyes off of it.

\--

Chin-Suk tried to quickly hide whatever he had in one of his back pockets. Unfortunately for him, he was wearing the pair of shorts that had buttoned pockets. Yikes.

Jin-Joo quietly snuck behind him and snatched the glowing object from his hand.

"Hey!"

Jin-Joo smirked as she gladly handed the object over to Chin-Sun. What Chin-Suk was trying to keep away was actually…

"A locket?"

Jin-Joo raised an eyebrow as Chin-Sun closely examined it. It was still glowing, and was shaped to be similar to a compass. The details seemed well-executed and merely had one or two scratches on the outside. Chin-Suk finally opened it and one side was an actual compass, which was pretty useful!

On the other side of the locket's inside, she found a couple jumbled written letters instead of an ancient photo like in the movies.

 **"H M D Z P N J"** she read aloud.

"I wonder what that means," Jin-Joo added.

"I bet that I can figure out what that means!" Chin-Suk laughed confidently.

"Be my guest, Suk-i." Chin-Sun ruffled her brother's hair in response. Chin-Suk began frantically jotting down notes in his small notebook such as the mixed-up letters, sketches of the locket itself, and taking note of it's unusual glowing.

_Chin-Sun loved her brother more than anyone else in the entire planet. Except maybe Jin-Joo, NCT, and a few other things in life perhaps. Chin-Suk was at a very young age when her parents disappeared, so of course he looked up to her the most._

_Little did Chin-Sun know that her brother knew and recalled everything that happened between them and their parents. Good things, bad things, sad things, crazy things, even terrible things._

_Much terrible, terrible, terrible things._

_But just because his memory was much greater than average didn't mean that everyone had to know that. Not even his sister. He liked to think of it as his "superpower"._

-/-

"I'm not sure where you got this, but it'll stay safe with me."

Chin-Sun slowly put the locket around her neck while she took a few moments to appreciate it's mysterious beauty.

Suddenly, the locket itself gleamed even brighter for a good few seconds before the glowing finally faded away. Chin-Sun felt a chill run down her spine and she felt something spark inside her…

… but she brushed it off as the everyday chills.

"A-are you okay?" Jin-Joo was a bit concerned.

Chin-Sun quickly nodded and gave a small smile in response as Chin-Suk's focus directed at something behind her. It even caught the attention of Chin-Suk's friends at the playground.

They casted a large shadow, and they were tall and scary.

_According to Chin-Suk's friends, that is._

In mere seconds, the playground was suddenly empty and so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. It was only the three of them, and whatever was behind Chin-Sun.

Luckily, she had time to turn around and figure out what was bothering those kids. She then sighed at the sight.

"Bora."

Park Bora, to be exact. She was the queen of the school, except for the fact that there was no king. She was the one who was loved, hated, and envied all at the same time. No one really knew why. No one knew too much about her except that she was the best student, and that she used to be Chin-Sun's friend.

Chin-Sun was… her friend… enemy… **Frenemy**.

"Nice to see you, Chimney!" she laughed.

Her entourage was laughing along right by her side. Felix, Mina, and Lami.

Chin-Sun didn't really hate those three, as that hate was more focused on Bora. It wasn't like they did anything mean or hurtful to her or her friends either… They just made a not-so-great decision blindly following the "queen".

Even though Bora was the youngest out of the four, age never really played a part in her own hierarchy anyway. They didn't know any better, and who can blame them?

"I didn't get a chance to formally _meet_ your brother, as I was kinda cut off earlier!" Bora smiled evilly.

Chin-Suk backed away, making his hands into fists.

"Don't do anything stupid, or we'll-" Jin-Joo began.

"You'd what?" Bora laughed, "The teachers in this school think that I am a literal angel, unlike you two."

Her entourage exchanged smirks as Bora snapped her fingers. Felix and Lami took an arm each and prevented Chin-Suk from escaping. Chin-Suk didn't say a word, but tried to hold in his tears.

"You have no business butting into our lives, especially since you were the one who walked out on us!" Chin-Sun fired back.

Jin-Joo tried to help, but Mina glared at her, ready to fight if necessary. Bora knew that she was going to win.

"There's nothing you can do that'll stop this, Chimney," Bora raised a first, "So…"

"Just watch."

Chin-Suk tightly shut his eyes, afraid to look and escape from Felix and Lami's grasp. His deep breaths began fogging up his glasses.

Chin-Sun had to do something. Anything. Anything at all. She closed her eyes and tried to think as hard as she could. It was her brother. Her only brother. Her remains of a family. She… She…

**SMACK!**

She quickly opened her eyes, to see her frenemy on the ground, rubbing her face. Her entourage ran over without any second to spare and scrambled to help her. Bora removed her hand to expose a deep pink mark spreading over her cheek.

Chin-Sun quickly turned to her best friend, whose hand was quickly becoming red and tingly. Jin-Joo ran to grab Chin-Suk, and the three hightailed it to Chin-Sun's house before anyone else could get hurt.

-//-

_Saturday Evening, 6:00PM_

Earlier that day, Chin-Suk woke up to a note from her sister, which read:

_Suk-i,_

_I had gone out to run some errands as well as sadly going to Saturday Detention… As much as I wanted to skip it, I need to do well in school. So, I left Jin-Joo and the Choi family in charge of you until I get back._

_I should be back soon, Suki. I'm not sure what time yet exactly, but soon._

_I love you,_

_Chin-Sun_

Since reading that note, he happily hung out with the Choi family for the majority of the day, however, it began getting dark, and Chin-Suk didn't text back in a little while about returning home. Both Chin-Suk and Jin-Joo were beginning to get worried.

"It's not the first time she stayed out so late, she did say she had a lot to do today." Jin-Joo reassured him.

"She would've said something by now." he complained.

"Well, you did bring extra clothes in case something happened, how about you stay the night?" Jin-Joo suggested after noticing her mom mouthing the idea to her from across the hall.

Chin-Suk took a minute or two to really think about it, then he turned to his friend and gave a small smile and nodded reluctantly.

"S-sure," he quietly replied, "As long as she's back by tomorrow!"

"I know she will be." she reassured him once more before Mrs. Choi called them for dinner.

Something felt off in the back of Chin-Suk's mind, but he already accepted the offer of staying the night at Jin-Joo's. It would be too rude to just leave.

 _She'll be fine… right?_ , he thought.

-///-

Internally, Chin-Sun was **not** fine.

Bora happened to inform the teachers of Jin-Joo's incompetence, however she used Chin-Sun's name instead of Jin-Joo's. She did so because she already knew that Chin-Sun was in quite a boatload of trouble anyway. This was Bora's revenge plot, and it had succeeded… for now.

For her detention, and in order for her to retrieve her clean record, she had to spend the majority of the day helping her teachers with various odd jobs.

On a Saturday.

It wasn't too bad for the most part. However, she was there from 11am until sunset at around 7pm or so.

She did everything from doing paperwork, to getting lunch, to grading homework, to cleaning the bathrooms… Gross.

Nonetheless, she felt like she had achieved something after all of that hard work. So, she finally began to head home.

On her way out, she saw the principal preparing to leave.

"Have a good night, 교장선생님." She politely said.

The principal just nodded in response. He didn't even smile. None of her peers think he was ever capable of smiling, honestly.

And to think, after all that work, the rest of the night would be calm and peaceful.

**And then it rained.**

"Son of a-"

_Unbeknownst to her, her locket began to glow like last time, but it wasn't strong enough for anyone to notice._

-////-

N's P.O.V.

I was watching the raindrops striking the window to pass the time when I felt a chill down my spine.

It was funny… People like me don't usually feel anything, at least that's what it seemed to be like in the movies.

That chill grew into a tingly sensation, as I felt my head begin to buzz.

I couldn't really describe it, but I had a theory of what was causing it.

"Guys!" I called.

The others rushed into the room in ten seconds flat.

"Y-you can actually feel?" one of them asked.

"This isn't just your powers acting up, right?" another asked. I did my best to cough out a "yes" while I dealt with the buzzing.

The others were in complete shock at the sight that for the first time in what felt like forever… one of us finally **felt** something! I could barely believe either.

"There's no way that it found her."

Well, there was one of us who was not impressed.

"If it were really her, you'd be writhing in pain by now."

And just like that, I collapsed to the floor, unable to move. Now everyone was convinced that this was really happening. My buzzing turned into what I would guess was a migraine.

In short, it was terrible.

"Okay okay, this is the real deal," the leader said, "Everyone, hide in your rooms until one of us gives the 'all clear'."

The leader looks down on me, and then my next-door neighbor.

"Protect him until we're sure that we're safe," he commanded.

I was still trying to cope with the pain taking over my entire body while my neighbor formed a field around me. The more I try to think about it, the more pain I feel.

Everything's about to change.

-/////-

3rd POV

Of course Chin-Sun forgot to bring an umbrella. Earlier that day, the weather was sunny with a few clouds here and there. Now, she was wet and cold and kind of lost. Her phone had died while she was at school since she had been there for so long, and the buses were mysteriously nowhere to be seen.

Something seemed off.

But nonetheless, she had to walk.

It took almost a half hour or so running through the dim lights and rain puddles before she noticed that her locket was glowing again.

"Where did Suki find this thing?" she said to herself as she finally remembered.

She opened up the locket and tried her best to read the compass.

It was pointing West.

Her house is Northeast from the school, so she was completely in the wrong direction.

She realized her mistake and began running towards Northeast.

_25 minutes later…_

It didn't usually take Chin-Sun this long to walk home from the school, but she had passed school grounds 10 minutes ago. She would've been home and under a roof with her brother by now. She couldn't even call anyone or ask for help because everyone's home.

She glanced at the compass once again and it still pointed Northeast. She looked back to see that she was in an unfamiliar area of town, and was indeed…

Lost.

Despite that, she reluctantly decided to rely on the compass and keep heading Northeast.

Minutes later, she noticed that she's within the woods now. The full moon was her only light source, and she was scared. But now, the compass has changed.

West again.

Now she was really suspicious.

She turned around and followed North.

_3 minutes later…_

She passed through an unsteady but tolerable cobble path.

"East."

She turned again and continued.

_1 minute later…_

She stumbled through some tall grass.

West.

She was starting to think that the compass was either broken or leading her to her ultimate doom.

She turned once again and continued.

_10 seconds later..._

She was still heading North, but accidentally ran into a tree.

Tree: 1  
Chin-Sun: 0

The compass was still pointing North even with the tree in the way, so she simply went around it and proceeded.

-/////-

The locket gleamed even brighter than before, this time, however, it started glowing every other second… like a tracking device.

She found herself in front of a house in the middle of a clearing. She couldn't see too much of its exterior. But maybe it had someone who could help her inside.

She was desperate.

She ran up to the door, which was mysteriously unlocked, and entered.

By the time she stood in the middle of what appeared to be the living room, her locket completely stopped glowing.

Which meant… no light source.

Complete darkness.

She made a mistake. She began to cry silently.

"This is the beginning of a horror movie," she thought, "This is where someone takes me out."

Or maybe it didn't have to be so scary… So of course, she said:

"H-hello?"

**Little did she know that seven pairs of eyes were specifically on her.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH
> 
> You made it through (officially) Chapter 2!
> 
> thoughts? comments? concerns?
> 
> My goodness sometimes I forget how long it takes to type up a new chapter lolol
> 
> also i feel like I say Chin-Sun's name way too often... and also I use "nonetheless" quite a lot, do I?
> 
> Hahaha writer's anxiety lol
> 
> hope you liked it!
> 
> ~ M


	6. Stutter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stutter (v.)  
> \- to talk with continued involuntary repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants  
> \-- can be worsened by anxiety or stress  
> \--- something that caught Chin-Sun's attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prepare for a long chapter!
> 
> ~ M

**"H-hello?"**

Even if the house was completely silent, Chin-Sun didn't want to make a scene. She did her best to keep her cool while she tried to feel her way into finding a light source. Anything to bring back some light again…

A match.

A candle.

A.. a…

"Light switch!" she whispered.

The lights in the living room flickered on, revealing that the light source happened to be a beautiful chandelier.

_Whoever lives in this creepy house must be rich,_ she thought to herself.

There was a TV that looked similar to one that the Young family had back in the United States. Several knick-knacks slightly cluttered the floor, and Chin-Sun was careful to not break any of them. A beige sofa, big enough to become a bed, sat in the back of the living room. A framed picture was hung above the sofa as she walked closer to observe.

_She felt a breeze kick in as she got closer, but didn't care all that much._

Upon closer inspection, she saw seven boys smiling and hugging each other like there was no tomorrow. They looked like friends, but something inside her felt like they were more than that.

On the bottom of the picture, there were a few letters that were handwritten. Perhaps from those boys.

" **H M D Z P N J** " she read aloud.

A giant wave of déjà vu hit her as she reopened her locket. T'was the same exact letters. Now that she thought about it, she felt more important. This had to mean something.

**Maybe this was her destiny.**

-/-

Instead of retreating to their rooms like cowards, six of them prepared their defense protocol. She had to go.

All of them had their own specified hiding spots in the house, good on their part.

If ANYONE besides them trespassed into the house, there were three rules:

**1\. Make sure the person leaves the premises, no matter what happens.**  
**2\. Do not get touched by the person.**  
**3\. Let your guard down and you're a goner.**

For them, the good news was that none of them broke the rules nor got discovered. However, the bad news was that _she_ was still in the house. It's already been about 10 whole minutes since she got inside. Even more bad news was that she was walking towards the second floor…

… where 3 of them, 2 alert and 1 barely alive, were hiding.

"I have to do it… You know the rules."

Mr. Unimpressed was tired of waiting. He began to clench his fists and snuck over toward the girl.

"Hyung, what are you doing?!"

"You're going to break rule number two!" His hiding partner lowered his force field and ran after him, leaving their incapacitated friend defenseless.

Two of them each broke a rule. One of them broke rule two. The other running behind broke rule three.

Both of them broke the most important rule.

**The Golden Rule of Friendship.**

-/-

Chin-Sun had looked through basically everything downstairs, so her curious mind encouraged her to investigate the upstairs floor.

She noticed that 9 doors accompanied the long hallway. 7 of them were painted with a different hue: **green, yellow, white, blue, pink, black, and finally purple.** The remaining two doors were most likely the bathroom, which had a faded grey door, and a red door.

Her curiosity did nothing except grow as she wondered about what… or who… could possibly be in each room. There was so much to explore and it was a golden opportunity for Chin-Sun and her more-than-eager mind.

She tread carefully through the hallway and stopped right in front of the door at the very end of the hall.

The red door.

What could be behind that one particular door? An endless void? A time loophole? Her own doom? An extra bedroom? For some reason, the red door, out of the other 8 options, was internally calling out to her. Red was her favorite color, anyway.

As she slowly reached for the doorknob, the familiar breeze from downstairs returned. However, this time it felt stronger. She quickly turned around to find that no one was the culprit of the sudden cold air. But there weren't even any doors or windows open…

What could it have been...?

She then slowly turned back to reach much closer to the doorknob, ready to see what was on the other side.

Somehow it felt like time had slowed down for her…

This felt like a huge moment for her and her only.

She could barely feel the brass handle as she--

**GRAB!**

Out of nowhere, a hand grasped Chin-Sun's wrist and prevented her from getting any closer to opening the door. She felt her heart sink as her eyes slowly directed to the one who stopped her...

He didn't look too happy.

He had a piercing on his cheek, and brown but mostly white hair with a purple fade. He wore a loose white sleeveless shirt with a midnight black sparkly jacket and skinny jeans to match. He even had piercings on his cheek.

In a few words, he looked like he did some bad things prior to this. Not a criminal but… a rebel?

Chin-Sun blinked for a few seconds before she realized that the guy's hand was the only body part that was… opaque.

She turned back to study the guy's features to realize that he was a bit see-through… actually, more like semi-transparent. She could still see him as a normal person, but she could also slightly see right through him.

Something struck a chord in her as her stress levels began skyrocketing over the fact that she was face-to-face with a… a… A…

"G-G-Ghost--" she stuttered.

He lost his cool by that point.

**"GET OUT!"** he roared.

Chin-Sun was in a complete panic as she pulled from the guy's grasp, strong enough to escape and run as fast as she could.

-//-

She stopped at the top of the stairs to take a second to regain her cool by taking a deep breath or two. Her moment of peace was quickly stopped as she-

"I'm sorry," another voice chirped, "Hyung isn't usually a rule-breaker!"

Chin-Sun was startled as she turned around to find two younger boys in front of her. But… They were translucent too… Which caused her to scream even more and stumble her way down the stairs.

"I'm calling the police when I get home!" she wailed as she tried to make it to the front door.

Another one of them appeared in her way. He was the tannest one, out of the guys she approached so far, to say the very least. He was kind of cute, too.

"Wait, no, that's kinda bad!" he warned.

Chin-Sun was running out of exit points… and stamina.

She backed away from both the front door and the stairs as the three from upstairs quickly ran down the stairs, and the sunkissed one was slowly walking towards her.

"You heard him. Leave." the tall one right behind me bellowed as he pointed to the rebellious-looking one.

This was very bad.

It was 5 of them against one of her. ONE. Five is more than one by a lot. Five > One. She was done for. No options left.

She was cornered. Literally.

**This was it: her legitimate beginning to start some horror movie.**

"Leave her alone, she might've just gotten lost!"

"She looks our age, she should know better than to stumble into here at a time like this!"

"He's got a point, you know."

"Give her a chance to explain!"

"Stay out of it!"

As she was trapped, the five of them started arguing with each other and layered their voices on top of one another. To Chin-Sun, it felt like literal torture as she tried to cover her ears to muffle the growing noise.

She tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes but it barely helped. She tried to get a good look on the louder-than-necessary bunch, it seemed like the more she blinked… the more of them were there. Surprisingly, the giant increase of people seemed to look similar to the sun-kissed lad.

No matter how many more of them showed up, it was still more than just her. More than one.

But it had been a long night for her and it had led to this very moment… Who knew that _this_ would be her last moments of living?

"Can you and your copycats put a sock in it, D-D--"

"Don't you **dare** say that name in this household. Or anywhere, for that matter."

"She's not welcome, nor will she ever be!"

"She did come here out of nowhere…"

"Hey, be nice for once, hyung!"

"Why don't you suck it up, buttercup?"

"Why you little--"

She began crying again as tears streamed down her face as she was still covering her ears. The five were too loud and too busy to notice that they were torturing the poor soul. Chin-Sun was almost about to break until--

**"ENOUGH!"**

As the voice boomed, the tannest of the group clenched his fists and his carbon copies vanished in a blink of an eye. The house fell silent once again, and everyone turned their attention to two men on top of the staircase. One of them had jet black hair and a disappointed face while his arm wrapped around the other, who had honey brown hair with a silver puffer vest and a black t-shirt… and looked very out of it.

**"M-Mark…"**

-///-

_Mark… Sounds like a nice name,_ Chin-Sun thought as the tears stopped.

Mark carried his spaced out comrade onto his back and he jumped from over the loft railing and gently floated down to the rest of the group. He put his friend on the couch so that he could rest, and began walking towards poor Chin-Sun. Mark had motioned the group to make room for the two of them, and he reached out a hand to her.

"I'm so sorry about them,"

Chin-Sun had enough time to catch her breath, as well as learn how to properly breathe again as she tried to grab his hand.

It felt like nothing was there.

Her hand had completely passed through Mark's and she squealed at this revelation. She curled back into a ball as a result.

Mark turned to the purple-haired boy that Chin-Sun had first encountered and cleared his throat, signaling for his help.

**"Renjun?"**

After seconds of rolling his eyes, Renjun reached out and clenched his right hand and Mark suddenly looked a lot more healthy, like an actual human. Mark then reached his hand out again.

"Don't be scared, it's okay!"

Even though she was legitimately scared after what happened the first time, Chin-Sun reached out once again. This time, she was able to fully hold Mark's hand as he helped her up.

Chin-Sun shooed off the dust on her outfit and Mark helped her fix her hair a little bit. The others simply watched in awe.

Mark and Chin-Sun then shook hands for a bit.

"If you didn't hear the first time, I'm Mark. Mark L--"

He paused for a moment.

"Just Mark." he smiled. To Chin-Sun, Mark seemed to fulfill that awkwardly charming friend archetype she had seen in coming-of-age movies back in America. She felt a slight feeling of butterflies in her stomach as Mark introduced himself… Was this normal?

"Hello, the name's Chin-Sun. You can call me Sunni, if you'd like." she bowed politely.

The rest of the group exchanged looks and some of them smiled. Others either looked confused or frowned.

"Nice to meet you, S-Sunni."

He let go of her hand as Renjun put his arm down, resulting in Mark becoming translucent one again. His smile quickly faded as he turned to the rest of the group. Chin-Sun couldn't tell, but he was infuriated on the inside.

"Apologize. Introduce yourselves. Then you can go to bed."

The group reluctantly looked at one another.

"If you don't, you get to have _him_ be your roommate for the night." He pointed at their unconscious comrade.

The group quietly gasped as they turned to their friend on the couch, who was already fast asleep. One of the younger boys stepped out in mere seconds. He looked like he was the only one actually ready for bed as he donned cute blue pajamas and a yellow cap.

"I'm super duper sorry! Please forgive me!" he cried as he bowed.

None of them understood him at first. It felt like he was speaking alien until--

"He's 'super duper' sorry, please forgive him." Renjun monotonously repeated in Korean.

"They're from China," Mark rubbed his neck, "He understands Korean, but prefers Mandarin!"

Renjun nudged the young boy's shoulder. Realizing his mistake, he quickly bowed again.

"I'm sorry, I'm Zh--" he paused for a moment, "Chenle. **Chenle!** "

Chenle acted as if he didn't blank out for a second. Chin-Sun blinked. She was taken aback that he also had a stutter, but Chenle nor the others didn't make it seem like a big deal anyway.

"Nice to meet you, Chenle." She giggled as she basked in the cuteness that happened to be Chenle.

"I'm 15 years old, and also please please please forgive me!" he cried in a high-pitched voice.

Another one of the younger boys popped out of the bunch and ran up to Chenle. The other boy had amazingly curly golden blonde hair, and a blue turtleneck with a navy blazer--with gold accents--to match. The well-dressed kid smacked Chenle's head and began waving his arms frantically.

Chenle nodded. How was that even possible? Was he serious or was it just a cute game of charades?

Jisung then bowed a couple times towards me and then cupped his own face. He was mouthing his words the entire time during this.

Too bad Chin-Sun couldn't read lips.

Then, both Chenle and his friend bowed together.

"Us. Please forgive us!" Chenle corrected.

They stood up once again and Jisung waved to Chin-Sun.

"H-he says 'Hello, I'm P-P-P… **Jisung**. I'm also really sorry, and I'm not much of a talker.'"

Jisung smiled and nodded. Both Chenle and Jisung had stutters… It was weird, even if Jisung wasn't talking, Chenle had been able to translate his stutter. Was it a mere coincidence? Chin-Sun internally concluded that the two had a stutter because they were the younger ones of the group. It was normal that teenagers had stutters, right?

She laughed in return.

The boys then smiled and turned to Mark, who gave a sincere nod of approval. As Chenle and Jisung began walking toward the staircase, Mark ruffled their hair while mouthing a "goodnight".

The young pair then ran upstairs together and into their assigned rooms.

The purple door belonged to Chenle, black for Jisung.

While both doors quickly shut, Chenle re-opened his and waved toward Chin-Sun.

"Goodnight, Sunni!"

Then he closed his door once again.

Chin-Sun's heart couldn't help but melt a little bit. They were cute. No… **ADORABLE**.

-////-

Mark cleared his throat once again to the remaining three. The trio looked at each other before Renjun grumbled.

"You already know my name. Hua--" he paused, like the others. " **Renjun**. Got it memorized?"

Chin-Sun slowly nodded without saying a word. Renjun, too? The stutter had to be a coincidence. But the more she thought about it, the more curious she became. She stayed quiet, however. Besides, she didn't want to mess with him again after what had just happened.

"I'm just gonna tell it to you straight: I don't like you." he smirked.

_Very nice._

Mark glared at him while Jeno gently nudged his shoulder.

"I'm being honest!" he protested, "It was wrong for her to come here and I'm sticking to that statement."

Renjun then began walking upstairs with his arms crossed, however he stopped midway on the stairs and turned to Chin-Sun.

**"Here's the deal: If you stay at least 3 feet away from me, we should be good."**

Chin-Sun's eyes widened and Mark shook his head in disappointment. Renjun evilly smiled as he returned to his room and slammed it, which startled both Chin-Sun and the tan one. Mark and the taller boy seemed unfazed. They must've been used to this by now.

Renjun's door happened to be the white one. White?

Wasn't the color "white" supposed to symbolize innocence? Like sheep or white doves? Renjun seemed the complete opposite of pure and innocent through Chin-Sun's perspective.

To Chin-Sun, it was irony at its best.

The tallest of the group stepped out and bowed his head.

"Excuse him, he's always like this."

His head popped up. He was wearing a loose striped blue and white t-shirt along with a reddish-white headband under his peroxide-white blonde hair. He looked like he just came back from a day at the beach… Interesting.

"I'm L-L-L…" he stuttered, " **Jeno**!"

_What the--_ she thought.

Scratch coincidence. Something was definitely off. But… What could she say about it? Was it even her place to mention it? She had just met them.

Not a word left her mouth, once again.

As he smiled, so did his eyes. Chin-Sun couldn't help but enjoy it for a little bit. It was a perfect eye smile.

"Sorry for the scare, but Renjun has a point," her eyes slightly widened, "I'm going to keep my eye on you, but so far you seem okay." Jeno's smile faded a little, but his eyes remained "smiling".

Mark excused Jeno to get some rest as he dashed upstairs and peeked into Renjun's room en route to his own room.

Jeno's bedroom was occupied by the blue door. Blue. Of all the colors in the rainbow, everyone tended to pick that particular color as their favorite. He was even wearing a blue shirt.

_Maybe he's the favorite of the group?_ , Chin-Sun thought to herself.

"You'll… have to excuse him. He's kinda been like Renjun's bodyguard lately, and I have no idea why." Mark mumbled.

Unbeknownst to them, Jeno was about to go into his room and couldn't help but eavesdrop a little bit.

"Well, he seems like the protective one of the group. That means he cares a lot about you guys." Chin-Sun reassured, as she squeezed Mark's right shoulder.

Jeno smiled to himself as he opened the blue door and gently closed it.

-/////-

"I-It's getting pretty late, huh?" Mark looked out the window as a pair of arms came from behind and hugged him.

As Chin-Sun faced the window, she noticed stars scattered across the sky, but it was completely pitch black. They could barely see anything past the cobble path Chin-Sun had passed through.

"I think I can find my way back, I just have to go the way I came…" Chin-Sun mumbled as she began walking to the front door.

Mark's eyes widened upon hearing her words and grabbed her wrist. It felt like time had stopped and both of them were taken aback.

"No, you can... stay here for the night." Mark reluctantly decided.

"Really?!"

Chin-Sun was startled as Mark let go of his grip. The sweet-like-honey voice belonged to the sunkissed fellow, who was hiding behind, and also hugging, Mark for the duration of introductions. His head shyly popped out from behind and his eyes met Chin-Sun's. She could see a subtle shade of pink forming on his cheeks as he let go of Mark.

"Oh right!" Mark laughed.

The shy lad put a hand behind his back while he used the other to fix his unintentionally messy hair. Mark motioned for him to introduce himself and he shyly nodded.

"H-Hello…"

His eyes grew wide all of a sudden.

"I'm D-Donghy--" Tears were forming in his eyes. He shut his eyes and she could tell that he was really trying.

Chin-Sun felt her heart sink this time… Both pity and sympathy swirled around her at the sight.

"D-D--…" His breaths were beginning to become shorter and faster.

Mark walked over and rubbed his back in an attempt to help. It sort of worked. He took another deep breath and tried again.

"Haechan. My name is **Haechan**." He quickly bowed before hiding behind Mark once again.

Chin-Sun cocked her head to the side and quietly giggled.

"It's nice to meet you, Haechan. I... like you already."

Haechan felt the wave of blush taking over his cheeks once again. He was taking one or two more deep breaths before he felt better.

"And you've met… mostly everyone!" Mark spoke up as he turned to the unconscious male on the couch.

They had almost forgotten that he was out cold this entire time. Haechan quietly walked to a nearby shelf and grabbed both a cotton blanket and a pillow. Meanwhile, Mark, with Chin-Sun in tow, walked up to the sleeping boy and fixed some strands of hair that covered his face. Chin-Sun popped up from behind to see who this guy was.

"Who… is he?" She was only able to say those three words as she was too focused on his face.

Mark and Haechan didn't hear, unsurprisingly. They were too busy adjusting the unnamed boy without waking him up. Of course he was going to crash on one side of the couch at this extremely late time.

She then recalled that he looked pale and zoned out when Mark carried him from the top of the stairs earlier. He even looked like he was going to throw up… thank God he didn't.

For some reason, she wanted to fix his messy honey brown hair. She sort of even wanted to caress the cheeks on his face. She… She...

_**What** am I doing?_ she thought to herself, trying her best to not panic, _**What** is this feeling?_

As Chin-Sun sat herself down on the other side of the couch, she accidentally found herself alone in her mind -- an accidental loophole of mixed feelings, if you will. In the midst of her messed-up brain, something had sparked in her.

_Now… Where have I heard of those names before?_ Chin-Sun recalled to herself, _Mark, Chenle, Jisung, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan… and whoever's sleeping right by me._

Deep in her thoughts, bits and pieces of her sleepover with Jin-Joo flashed through her mental vision. One bit, in particular, was a blurry flash of K-Profiles, an old website her and Jin-Jin used to scroll through 24/7 back in the day.

_Were they… a k-pop group?_ Too many questions, too little answers.

"Sun?"

No response.

"S-Sunni?"

Still nothing.

**"SUNNI!"**

Chin-Sun got startled again, as Haechan somehow managed to snap her out of her daze. She looked up at Haechan, who was holding another blanket and two pillows.

"You'll have enough room… He's usually a heavy sleeper." he said, glancing at the still-asleep boy.

Mark wrapped an arm around Haechan while Chin-Sun made herself comfortable. She glanced over at the sleeping boy from across the couch. He looked so calm, so peaceful. To be honest, he looked like the least chaotic of the group… Except for Mark, perhaps.

"Who's he?" she turned to look at the boy once again.

He looked a lot more comfortable with the blanket, and he was tightly hugging the pillow. He bit part of his lip and his closed eyes seemed a bit strained. She blinked a couple times so that she wouldn't be too entranced with his apparent charm. Mark and Haechan looked at each other with slight worry.

"He's…" Haechan began. He suddenly stopped.

_**"Don't. I feel like you should let me introduce myself instead of you two."** _

Haechan suddenly blushed once again. So did Mark.

What was that?

**"I feel like… He'd rather introduce himself to you tomorrow instead of us."** Mark blinked.

"What?"

"Y-yeah, it'd be the polite thing to do." Haechan scratched his head.

"We'll let you get some rest." Mark said, "Have a goodnight, okay?"

Chin-Sun nodded and laid her head down on the pillow.

"Goodnight," she mumbled sleepily.

Mark glanced at her locket, which gave off a subtle glow. He then turned the lights off and made his way up the stairs with Haechan trailing behind.

Chin-Sun turned her head and looked up at the pair. They seemed cute together, according to her.

She was really hoping that her brother and best friend were okay and safe. She felt terrible not being able to contact Suki, but there wasn't a charger in the house, let alone outside the woods. She could only hope for the best. Not for the two closest people to her, but also herself.

Two other thoughts popped into her head after her glimpse of hope. Her first thought was that the seven members looked kind of familiar. She had a good feeling that she knew them from somewhere, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Rather than a final thought, one other thing that stuck into Chin-Sun's mind was all... most of the members stuttering. She caught on to the constant stammering quicker than she anticipated. Honestly, she wanted to know why that was happening. Oddly enough, the more stuttering that happened with each member, the more strained and upset they became... especially poor Haechan.

What was even more strange to her was that they only stuttered when trying to pronounce their surnames. It was a good thing that they all had different given names other than something common like Minho or Woojin. She was too tired to recall the letters they stuttered at exactly, as that was to be further investigated tomorrow.

Regardless, she found a new mystery to solve, and all of them… _most_ of them seemed nice enough, anyway.

With some thoughts in mind, she finally closed her eyes and allowed a giant wave of fatigue to consume her.

-\\\\\\\\\\-

Haechan and Mark made it upstairs without making much more noise. They made eye contact and mouthed a "goodnight" to each other before heading to their rooms.

Haechan happened to have the yellow door. He smiled at Mark as he passed by him and quietly closed the door.

Mark's room was on the left end of the hallway, right next to Haechan's room. He had the honor of having the green door. He was about to reach for the doorknob until--

_**"You saw the locket, didn't you?"** _

Mark stopped and closed his eyes.

"You weren't joking." He thought.

"I felt your heart rate increase."

_Of course he did._

"Then what do we do, **N**?"

"She needs to know. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

Mark quietly laughed to himself.

"Of all seven of us, it had to be you, huh?"

"I guess so, it's not like it's a blessing or curse… We don't even know what it is yet."

"We'll sort it out tomorrow. Goodnight."

Mark opened his door and began to close it.

"Mark, I just need to tell you one last thing before you go."

He raised an eyebrow.

**"She's mine."**

Mark blushed and looked down as he closed his door. The house became silent once again. The only noise that could be heard was the raindrops that striked outside.

Pitter patter. Pitter. Patter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaahhhhhhhhhh chapter 3 completed!
> 
> thoughts? comments? concerns?
> 
> This week's thoughts:  
> \---- I will continue to ship Markhyuck over Yumark, but I accept Yuta's one-sided (and seemingly undying) love for Mark.  
> \----Taeil is a true god with the harmonica.  
> \---- NCT Life: Dream in Wonderland is amazing so far lol.  
> \---- NCT 127 Teach Me Japan -- Lesson 2 ep 3 is my favorite part of the show so far... see why lmao  
> \---- Chenle is my Dream bias but Jaemin is my Dream bias wrecker halp


	7. Wakey-Wakey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wakey-wakey (exclamation/saying)  
> \- used for telling someone in a humorous way that they should wake up or should pay attention  
> \-- one of several underrated NCT 127 songs  
> \--- Jaemin's choice of words, not mine

\--

**"Suki…"**

_Sunni noona?_

Chin-Suk reawakened in a gasp of breath to see that everything was consumed in complete darkness.

Where was he...?

After some quick thinking, he figured that he was most likely in an empty void. Sure, let's go with "empty void" for now.

In his perspective, he felt like Eleven from Stranger Things. Although it was a lot more terrifying in Suki's perspective in comparison to Eleven's. He felt scared and cold, but he knew that he was there for some reason. Whatever that would be.

"Suki."

He turned around to the direction of the voice.

That **had** to be her. But… she was nowhere to be found. That was definitely her voice, but it felt like a mere echo. He couldn't be hallucinating… He knows his sister well enough to recognize her voice from anywhere...

"Noona, where are you?!" his voice echoed.

"H-Help me…" her voice sounded quieter that time.

Suki frantically looked around and began running around, looking for something. Anything.

He felt like he was running a marathon at that point. No matter which direction he ran in, there was nothing or no one there to help.

"S-Sunni!" He began to get desperate, "Tell me where you are!"

He was losing stamina… and patience. Until his ears picked up some cries out of nowhere. After taking a deep breath, Suki began running again. This time, the cries grew louder and louder until--

"Sunni noona!"

He found her but she was right in front of him, so he couldn't see her face. Instead, he saw her pain. She was on her knees, head buried in her hands. He slowly began walking up to her while noticing several things.

Chin-Sun was wearing her school uniform, but her skirt was tattered and her shirt had a few tears and blood stains. Her legs had bruises and scratches, and her arms looked no better. Even her hair was extremely messy.

Suki wanted to cry.

"Sunni…"

"I must be dreaming… I have to be."

She seemed like she didn't listen… or even notice. She began trembling. Suki walked a bit closer, as he reached his right hand out.

"It's me! Your favorite brother Suki…"

Okay, even Suki himself would've cringed at that statement.

Sunni's breaths became short and she fell on her butt. Suki's hand began shaking as he was millimeters away from her back. In a blink, he put his hand on her back.

That was a mistake.

She turned around to face him, her long hair covering half of her face.

**Suki couldn't believe what he was looking at.**

Sunni's facial features were gone. Her eyes, her nose, even the small blackheads on her nose. Her face was completely blank. Yet, her brother could see tear stains from where her eyes should be. Both of them were scared to death, but they both knew that she was the one who was hurting.

Sunni put one hand over where her mouth was supposed to be, and the other on her dear brother's cheek. She caressed it for a few seconds and then pulled Suki into a hug. She knew that it was truly her brother and not some random stranger.

She began to quietly sob.

"Sunni… How can I fix this?" He was also crying into her sister's shoulder.

He felt responsible. Guilty. He couldn't just stand there, he wanted to help somehow.

A loud roar could be heard, causing the siblings to look in the direction of the noise. Suki's eyes widened, and Sunni gripped Suki's shoulders. That wasn't some familiar animal roar from the woods… It sounded like something worse. Much, much worse.

Sunni turned to her dear brother once again.

"Just--"

-/-

_**"AHHHHHH!"** _

Jin-Joo jolted awake and fell out of her bed. Suki quickly sat up, screaming. He felt tears beginning to form in his eyes as he tried his best to catch his breath.

"Chin-Suk!" Jin-Joo moaned, turning on the dim lamp from the floor.

He didn't reply. He couldn't reply. His mind was flooded with thoughts and questions and concerns. Especially concerns.

Jin-Joo managed to recompose herself and sat beside Chin-Suk.

Whenever his sister had errands to run late at night, Suki would usually crash at the Choi household. The Choi's and Young's were fast friends when Sunni and Suki moved to Seoul. From there, Jin-Joo and Chin-Sun had been best friends for as long as they could remember. Of course, that was long before Mr. and Mrs. Young had vanished.

From there on, Sunni and her brother moved to a smaller house that happened to be close to the Choi's. Jin-Joo's family were more than happy to help with whatever the siblings needed, especially Sunni. By that point, Sunni decided to veto the family name for the time being to make things easier.

**Since then, the siblings were Chin Sun and Chin Suk.**

That meant that their family name would be Chin.

It was simple as that.

"Suki--" Jin-Joo put a hand on his shoulder.

"L-Let me be!" Suki scooted an inch away from her.

She could tell that he was trying to be tough and not cry. She gave a small smile, and hugged her best friend's brother from behind.

"It's okay to cry, Suki."

So, Suki did just that. He cried it all out. Not too loud to wake up the rest of the Choi family, but enough to relieve himself.

"Jin-Jin, what if she's never coming back…" he sobbed, "What if she's hurt?"

"Suki--"

"Or worse?!"

"Chin-Suk!"

He popped his head up and the tears suddenly stopped flowing down his face. He slowly turned to face Jin-Joo from behind.

"But Jinnie…" He looked down once again, still in the back hug.

"Your sister's one of the strongest people I know. She's my best friend and your sister. I'm more than sure that she can take care of herself." Jin-Joo reassured.

She didn't know that Suki wasn't listening, as he was too focused on her arms wrapped around him.

Chin-Suk broke out of the back hug and quickly checked his phone. He checked his text messages and every single form of social media.

 _No new notifications_ , it read.

"The sister I know would text me back by now…" he sulked.

"The best friend I know would probably forget her phone charger."

Jin-Joo pointed to Chin-Suk's backpack, where his sister's charger could be seen tangled with his own. He lightly smacked his forehead in annoyance.

"Some sister I have." He rolled his eyes while Jin-Joo laughed.

"She'll definitely be back in the morning. I'm sure she's staying at another friend's house. Heck, she's probably even asleep right now!"

Jin-Joo yawned as she tucked Suki back into bed. Suki's face was still full of worry and concern. He just wanted to be sure his sister was okay.

"Pinky promise?" He stuck his left pinky out, pouting.

Jin-Joo smiled and hugged his pinky with her right one.

"I pinky promise."

She stumbled back into bed and was ready to turn off the dim lamp.

"Goodnight Suki!" she yawned.

"Goodnight Jinnie… Thanks." he yawned back as the room was pitch black once again.

Jin-Joo readjusted herself into the most comfortable position and closed her eyes… but popped them back open after a few seconds.

"Jinnie?"

"Mm?" she groaned.

"You're okay too, right?"

Jin-Joo raised an eyebrow. That came out of nowhere, but she hesitated…

"Yeah, I'm okay… Why?"

Suki didn't budge and was staring up at the ceiling.

**"Your… arms?"**

Her heart sank. She quietly winced as she rubbed against the bruises from her arms. She had to say some excuse.

"Y-you know that Jiyeon's a little rough around the edges sometimes!" she chuckled, masking her pain.

"Too rough?" Suki fell for her excuse, for now.

"Yeah, I'll be fine!"

"Okay, night night!" Suki quietly said before his eyelids fluttered shut.

"G'night," she mumbled.

Jin-Joo was completely thrown off by her own pain that she nearly forgot Suki's breakdown just minutes ago. She couldn't stop thinking and worrying about her best friend. She worried enough that her mind couldn't get the idea of her best friend getting into danger out of her head. In a quiet panic, she snagged her phone and scrolled through her social media accounts as well as her text messages. Empty.

_He was right, she would've said something by now,_

She turned to her other side and her mind kept flooding with bad thoughts and implications...

… until the pitter patter of the rain eventually drowned out her neverending thoughts and lulled both of them into deep slumber once again.

-//-

Several hours later...

"Hey."

She was still asleep. Might've mumbled something but was still unconscious.

Take two.

"Wake up." He poked her stomach this time.

She mumbled something else and turned the other way.

Third time's the charm.

 **"Wakey-wakey!"** He quickly, and nearly violently, shook Chin-Sun awake.

Chin-Sun in the morning was like any other typical teenage girl: hair like a lion's and subtle eye bags. To him, however, Sunni was a literal angel who fell from heaven. Instead of a lion's mane, he saw her dark flowy hair. Instead of her eye bags, he acknowledged her beautiful brown pupils. If he really tried, he could stare deep down into her soul and be completely satisfied.

 _You're more beautiful in person with my eyes actually open,_ he thought to himself.

She rubbed her eyes for a few moments and awkwardly stared at the young man before her. He wasn't wearing the silver vest he passed out in last night, and was wearing a decent pair of skinny jeans. His honey brown hair was still messy, but the good kind. She wanted to fix it so badly but she still didn't know why.

He was about to say something until--

**"Jaemin, right?"**

_What the hell?_

"Yes?"

His eyes widened. His heart skipped a beat or two.

_How did she--_

"Wait, how did I guess that right?" she asked herself, confusing Jaemin even more, "More importantly, why does that name sound so familiar to me?"

Jaemin pretended to not listen and Sunni just brushed off those questions for later.

As she began folding her blanket, Jaemin scanned her from head to toe until he had noticed her shirt glowing. It was… glowing in a round shape… It was subtle at first, but the more he concentrated, the brighter it seemed to glow. He must be still recovering from last night's calamity.

Then his mind wandered into reflecting what had happened last night…

\--

**Jaemin's POV**

Last Night

_I felt so helpless. I could barely think straight, let alone use my "flair". I couldn't even move..._

_Mark just gave the command to hide in our separate rooms and ran off into his own. I felt a surge of doubt phasing through the rest of the group, especially from Jeno and Renjun, even if I was practically paralyzed at this point._

_I tried to regain feeling in my hands and get myself back up until--_

_"No no, stay down," Jeno put a hand on my shoulder, and used his "flair" with the other, "You don't look too great."_

_"J-Just tired, Jeno…" I managed to mumble._

_I could barely see or hear Renjun yelling commands and taking charge… It seemed like he was planning something devious. I tried to get form words and cough up my objection but--_

_"Renjun-hyung. What are you up to?" Haechan questioned._

_The migraine became progressively worse right after Haechan spoke. I closed my eyes in hopes of relieving the pain._

_Short answer: It wasn't working._

_"We can't keep hiding forever." Renjun barked. "What if whoever is coming is a monster? An alien?"_

_"There's no such thing as monsters." Haechan reassured, hugging both Chenle and Jisung who were quivering in fear. They may be teenagers, but they're still wary about the possibility of monsters, even those beyond "under the bed" level._

_"Or it could even be… **A human**!" he theorized._

_I rolled my eyes on the inside. Jeno probably did too, but that didn't stop him from being worried himself. Honestly, out of the other theories I heard before, this was much worse than the ones about aliens once in a while._

_Meanwhile, the others began panicking… quietly. Except for Chenle, whose high-pitched scream showcased his thoughts of humans._

_Human beings. I remember when I used to be one of those._

_Not just tangibility but being able to have true feelings. To be able to physically laugh so hard that your stomach would hurt or to cry so much that your eyes would sting._

_I tried reminiscing the times I truly lived several times since I became like this. When I actually felt something prior to this. But like the rest of my friends-- That's what it's called, right?… "Friends"?_

_My memories have become a broken mirror. Fragments of humanity have been scattered in my psyche. My thoughts and experiences were all separated and disoriented, no matter how much I tried to piece back the puzzle that was my mind. My humanity._

_One thing stuck with me, however, even after what cost me my life:_

_**My empathy.** _

_I mean, it wasn't my choice. It was my "flair". My superpower. My blessing. My… my…_

_Curse._

_No, there's got to be a better word than "curse"... I'll go with "flair". I don't like to think of it as something so malicious, but almost everyone else already used their powers for such terrible things._

_Well… Renjun, mostly._

_He had been the only one actually willing to physically harm anyone that messed with any of us. It never looked pretty in the end…_

_I'd like to hope that one day, he'll tear down his fake demeanor and be the pure and savage friend he once was. Or y'know, at least say one sentence to me, even a word would do._

_But that was beside the point at that very moment._

_The one and only important thing that evening was the girl._

-//-

**Third POV**

"You okay?"

Jaemin blinked himself back into reality and made eye contact with Sunni, giving a small shy smile.

"Yeah um," he mumbled, "Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."

Sunni quickly got up and headed toward the kitchen without another word, with a sleepy Jaemin dragging his feet from behind. She's the human here, of course she was hungry.

He knew she had to be the one, she got the locket anyway.

But she didn't even know who they were yet.

-///-

As she ran into the kitchen, she was in awe of the breakfast that laid before her:

There were at least 2 giant bowls of rice, some smaller dishes of kimchi, some fruit, and her favorite dish of all…

"Galbi…" Sunni was still awestruck as Chenle waved over from the farther end of the dining table.

There were two empty seats between Chenle on the left, and Jeno on the right. She shyly sat right next to Chenle, while Jaemin quietly sat himself between Sunni and Jeno. A quick but small smile was flashed from Jeno to Jaemin before they all began eating.

The first five or ten minutes were quiet, as they were all starving at around 9:00am. The boys had so many questions, but none of them had the gut to speak up first until--

"This galbi is hands down amazing!" she complimented with a mouthful, "Who cooked all of this?"

The boys subtly eyed at each other for an answer, except for Jaemin, who just kept eating.

"It was me for today," Haechan blushed at the compliment. That was the first nice thing he's heard in a while.

"Not Mark!" Chenle laughed. The rest of them giggled along, except for a smirking Renjun and a greatly fuming Mark.

"No one said they wanted any **_eggs_** today, and that was only one time!" he protested.

"Why do you think we didn't want any in the first place?" Jeno added in a monotone voice.

The others burst into laughter, except for Jaemin, who slyly smiled, and Sunni, who was trying to cover her mouth and not laugh out of politeness.

"Trust me, I learned my lesson after what happened last time!" Mark rolled his eyes. His face turned a new shade of pink.

"You gotta prove it, then." Renjun chuckled slyly.

"Sunni, you _had_ to see it for yourself, it was priceless!" Chenle added. He glanced at Jisung, who was pantomiming.

"Under one condition, Sunni has to be the judge of your cooking next time around, okay?" Chenle translated for a smirking Jisung.

Sunni had food in her mouth so she could only nod and give a reluctant yet muffled response.

She couldn't help but giggle at what could've happened to make Mark fail at frying eggs. **How bad could Mark, of all people, be at cooking in general?**

But again, why was the fact that Mark sucked at cooking familiar to her?

Guess she had to find the answer to both of those for herself later...

"Okay…" Mark awkwardly dragged the "ay" sound in order to change the subject.

Even the way Mark said "okay" threw Sunni off. Now she was getting very suspicious and very confused at the same time.

**"Chin-Sun,"**

The laughter in the room quickly died out. All eyes were on Jaemin and Jaemin only. What threw them off was the sudden change in his tone, which was very deep and serious.

Jaemin never acted this way around the others before, but Sunni never knew that.

"How did you end up here of all places?" he asked, focusing on Sunni.

 _That_ had to be the first question?

The boys' attention turned to Sunni. She felt a subtle wave of nervousness crash into her psyche.

"Well…" she began, "I was finishing up my punishment at school,"

"You're a troublemaker?" Renjun raised an eyebrow.

"I… don't think I am. I hope not." She twiddled her fingers and looked down at her empty plate, "I... got in trouble for something I didn't even do."

"We've all been there." Jeno spoke in a deadpan tone. The others murmured in agreement. Sunni slowly raised her head.

"You're not alone, that's for sure." Jaemin put a hand on her shoulder and the melting pot of guilt and doubt spread all over his mind. He suddenly became teary-eyed.

While Sunni was busy moping, Mark and Haechan had noticed right away. Jaemin quietly and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Is… that why you guys are like this?" She looked up.

"Are you guys… ghosts?"

Their eyes widened and they quickly exchanged glances. Then their focus was set on Mark, who was at a small loss for words.

"Not… exactly."

"W-what?"

Mark's wide eyes signaled to the others that he doesn't know how else to answer her question.

Jeno, Renjun, and Chenle tried answering for him all at the same time, promptly reminding Sunni of last night's loud situation. The three of them began arguing with each other.

Jisung was doing his best to use his hands to communicate while Chenle kept going back and forth on translating and answering.

Haechan and Mark were busy trying to come up with the best way to explain their life story to a girl they had just met less than 24 hours ago.

Jaemin, on the other hand, awkwardly glanced at her.

"You… want some _**ice cream**_?"

 _Ice cream?_ she thought to herself once again, _Wait…_

At that very moment, something sparked in Sunni's brain as she made eye contact with his dark brown eyes.

The way he said it… It sounded exactly like the line in that one song…

"Ice cream." his voice echoed in her mind. It was one of her favorite songs. It still was to this day. That was the one phrase that confirmed Sunni's thoughts.

That song was sung by... No... No way.

It couldn't be. It was impossible. She would either be correct or just making a bold and flattering statement if she said something. But there was no way that the boys right in front of her were…

**"Are you guys… the missing NCT Dream?"**

The boys suddenly shut up and stared in Sunni's direction. They felt like their jaws dropped and their minds were blown. She felt like she did something completely wrong.

**But in reality, she was completely right.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summer Physics 1 was really keeping me quite busy while kicking my butt at the same time... ended with an A- tho!
> 
> sorry for the wait :3
> 
> thoughts? comments? concerns?
> 
> This week's thoughts:  
> \---- NCT Life: Dream in Wonderland is so good right now wtf  
> \---- Jeno, Jaemin, Haechan, and Taeil had apparently dyed their hair... IM SUSPICIOUS... NCT 2020?? COMEBACK?? WHAT?  
> \---- I've been eating so much Hello Panda biscuits that I should have a world record tbh  
> \---- WAYV'S BAD ALIVE IS SO GOOD WHAT  
> \---- cannot get over Renjun saying a single swear word in his Fools cover while the other NCT members had to censor or not say swear words in covers lol


	8. Elucidate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> elucidate (v.)  
> \- make (something) clear  
> \-- to explain  
> \--- a fancy schmancy word to summarize this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH sorry for the delay!
> 
> pls still enjoy!
> 
> um also mild swearing sorry... you've been warned

\--

**"Shit."**

**_I feel like I shouldn't have offered ice cream._ **

Jaemin shouldn't have looked at Chenle when he thought that.

"He feels like he shouldn't have offered ice cream!" Chenle suddenly blurted out and pointed toward Jaemin. Jisung quickly pulled his friend back into his seat while Chenle covered his mouth.

_Shit._

Sunni was right after all.

"You must have us mistaken for seven other guys!" Mark laughed in an attempt to distract her long enough. He nudged Haechan to join in, followed by Chenle, Renjun, and Jeno.

"Yeah, you must still be tired!" Haechan blushed, waving his hands.

Sunni's eyes made contact with Jaemin's, who continued to stuff his face with galbi. Jisung, on the other hand, silently buried his head into his hands.

"Okay well," she began, twirling her fork, "What was your latest comeback?"

"Chewing Gum--" Chenle chirped right before Jisung quickly covered his mouth.

That was way too easy.

"Aha!" Sunni stood up and pointed at a wide-eyed Chenle.

"If I remember correctly, that happened to be your debut song, which means you are actually NCT Dream!"

Everyone but Chenle and Jisung exchanged glances. Confused glances, for that matter.

-/-

**"Okay yeah, we are NCT Dream… kind of."** Mark trailed off, giving up at lying. 

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, she wanted answers.

"We can't tell you every little thing at once, because…" Mark looked at Haechan.

"We don't… remember." Haechan pouted. The rest of the boys looked upset as well.

"How so?" Sunni felt sympathetic, which was overtaking her confusion of the situation.

The boys led Sunni toward the living room, while Sunni glanced at the giant framed picture right above the sofa… the same one Sunni inspected last night. One by one, the boys joined by her side.

"We all… kind of woke up here a while back." Mark began, "One by one, we all just… appeared."

"Woke up with little to no memories left to recall." Jeno clarified.

Sunni glanced at the boys' faces, and they looked like someone died. They were, in short, distraught. Mark broke his concentration and turned to her.

"For the first week or so, it was just me, myself and I… but I kept looking at this picture everyday since then. I couldn't… feel anything, no matter how much I tried to. It pains me to not remember why we're miserable."

**"M-Miserable?"**

Sunni glanced to notice that Haechan faced the other way so that no one else would see the tears on his face. Renjun managed to shed a single tear. The others quietly nodded.

"When we each ended up here," Renjun added, "We all kinda came to the consensus that we were all from the same team."

"But from what we can all recall, Chenle's comeback was **'Chewing Gum'**." Mark clarified.

"But you all debuted in 2016 with that song," Sunni reiterated.

"The rest of us don't think so, or at least don't remember,"

To her, that was both weird and wrong.

"From what we could put together, we seemed to have debuted in different songs."

"Jisungie only remembers being in **'My First and Last'** ," Chenle guessed correctly from Jisung's dance moves.

"My mind thinks that I only debuted in **'We Young'** ," Jeno added.

"It's weird," Chenle admitted.

" _To summarize, we had a lot of questions_ ," He mumbled in Mandarin.

"In short, there were many questions with no answers," Renjun translated.

"Even now, something still feels missing and everything seems all jumbled up and confusing." Jeno poetically confessed. The boys mumbled in agreement.

**"It's not fair."**

All eyes were on Haechan, who seemed to be on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. He tried wiping his face with his sweater paws, but the tears were flowing nonstop.

"Why can't our questions be answered? Why can't we be happy again?"

"Haecha--"

"No. With the broken memories that I have left in me, I know for a damn fact that there was a time that we were truly happy. I know that we could have at least felt happiness!"

Mark wrapped an arm around Haechan in an attempt to ease his growing sadness, and it was somewhat working.

"We can cry and even be angry, but why can't we be happy like those guys?!" He angrily pointed at the photograph, "I'm starting to think that they're a different group of happy and loving boys."

"That was from your We Go Up comeback… Of course it's you guys!" Sunni recalled.

Except for Mark, the boys were unmoved by the mere mention of her favorite comeback. Mark, on the other hand, perked his head up out of curiosity as he let Haechan take deep breaths to relieve himself.

"Only Mark remembers that song." Renjun gritted his teeth.

"The reason that we're broken like this is because--"

"W-we're… lost." Chenle choked out. Jisung couldn't keep his cool as he buried his face and quietly sobbed into Chenle's shoulder.

Her heart completely sunk. They were indeed NCT Dream, but they were lost and confused and needed all the help they could get.

"Lost… but you guys have each other!" Sunni pointed out.

"It's not that we're lost… We're--" Mark ruffled Chenle's hair.

**"Lost souls."** Jaemin interrupted.

As soon as Jaemin said the two words that everyone else was avoiding, the eight of them found themselves examining the framed picture of the boys together. Chenle was doing his best to wipe away his tears, Renjun clenched his fists in an attempt to contain his anger, and Haechan's tears began to dry up as he tightly hugged Mark's arm.

Unfortunately for the boys, that particular memory seemed to be frozen in time, as no one could recall such a happy moment.

-//-

"As lost souls, there are some setbacks that come with it, like being unable to… yeah." Jaemin continued, swiping his arm through Sunni's, giving her chills down her spine.

"But our **"flairs"** aren't a setback!" Chenle protested.

"Powers, he means." Jeno corrected. This caught Sunni's interest even more.

"Superpowers?" Sunni gasped, "You guys are so lucky!"

"Lucky enough to not be… _human_ ," Renjun crossed his arms.

"But yeah, being a lost soul isn't _**that**_ bad," Haechan tried his hardest to recover from his crying by lightening the mood. Instead, he gained some glares from Jeno, Renjun, and Jisung.

"I… Wait sorry, I need to sit for a second," Sunni plopped herself on the couch.

"We know, it's a lot to take in," Mark nodded.

"It is a lot, but I think I understand."

"If you do understand, that means you can probably help."

"H-help?"

Of all the people they could come to for help, **_she_** had to be the chosen one. Why her? Why not the police or even the Ghostbusters? It wasn't like Sunni, a troublesome student, just happened to know how to bring back ghosts from the dead.

"You're the only one out of countless people who happened to find us and not run away."

"And you do happen to know about us quite well, actually."

"I mean, I have been a fan of you guys since you guys were in the Mickey Mouse Club!" she smiled.

Renjun and Chenle raised an eyebrow while the others' eyes widened, except for Haechan, who simply looked down and put his non-hugging hand through his messy hair.

Oh right, it was only Mark, Jeno, Jaemin, Haechan, and little Jisung who were lucky enough to be part of South Korea's Mickey Mouse Club back in 2015. From what Sunni could remember, they had a great time there with the other members and Super Junior's Leeteuk as host in the club!

But why would Haechan be upset over the mention of something that was very exciting for them at the time?

"Haechan-ie?"

He looked up with pouty lips.

"What's wrong?"

Mark side-hugged his sun-kissed friend once again.

"He doesn't exactly remember being in the Club," Mark answered as Sunni's mouth formed an "o".

"It's alright Sunni, you didn't know!" Haechan reassured.

Sunni awkwardly chuckled, but she felt awful about her small unintentional mistake. That gave her more of a good reason to help them, but not good enough.

"You also happen to have whatever that is." Jaemin pointed at her locket.

She found herself unintentionally twiddling her fingers with the locket during their entire conversation and was caught off-guard when someone finally decided to bring it up. Of all of the boys, she was mostly curious about Jaemin. Until now, he barely said a word and just nodded along.

How observant.

**_I feel like you should open it for us._ **

Without noticing the boys turning their attention to Jaemin, Sunni suddenly looked down at her slightly glowing locket. Somehow, her mind couldn't think of anything but opening the locker… no matter how much she tried to think of literally anything else. Without sparing another second, she slowly opened the locket and the glowing quick disappeared. The guys gathered behind her on the couch to observe its contents.

"It's a compass, you idiot." Renjun lightly smacked Jaemin's head, followed by groans from the others.

"Wait, what's on the other side?" Mark pointed at the side that Sunni just happened to be covering. She quickly moved her hand away and revealed the letters that she noticed earlier.  
" **H M D Z P N J** " The same, unchanged letters as before.

"Just letters, you idiot," Renjun complained. He tried smacking his friend's head again, but Jaemin caught and gripped his wrist before he could lay a finger on him.

"But they must mean something, right?"

"They're random consonants!" Mark remembered from his education in Canada.

"What could **J** mean?" Jeno cocked his head to the side.

"And **Z**?" Chenle and Jisung squinted at the messy but legible handwriting.

Several comments and arguments layered on top of each other as the group tried to understand what the letters could possibly mean. One of them, however, reread the letters until an idea popped into his brain.

"I think I know what the **M** could mean," Jaemin spoke up, silencing his friends.

"What then, you brainiac?"

Jaemin spoke with his actions rather than his words as he pointed at their eldest. The rest seemed surprised, surprisingly.

"Mark?"

_You've got to be kidding me._

" **M for Mark**." He clarified, "Keep up, **_brainiacs_**."

The rest quickly understood the reasoning and murmured in agreement.

"It must be a sign then," Haechan realized.

The boys then proceeded to voice their opinions and rebuild the loud tsunami of voices, startling Sunni.

_**I know that we just met you less than 24 hours ago, but it seems like you know us much more than we know ourselves right now.** _

Sunni gasped. _Who said…?_

_**Oh sorry, I'm more of a thinker than a talker.** _

She observed the chaos occurring right by her. All of them seemed busy trying to figure out what to make of the situation. One boy in particular didn't say a word, but instead was staring right at her.

_**This is one of my powers, just so you won't get caught off-guard again. I feel like they've grown on you like you've grown on them in such a short time. No clue where you got that locket but honestly, we could use all the help we could get.** _

Sunni finally made eye contact with him and blushed a bit.

_**If you can't or don't feel comfortable, we won't force you. If you're up for it, it would be quite kind of you.** _

She furrowed her eyebrows and retreated to her own mind for a little bit, but soon after, she made eye contact once again and smiled sweetly. She wasn't the perfect child everyone wanted her to be, but she felt like this was the right thing to do. She wanted to have done something good in her conscience for at least her own sake.

_**I'd be happy to help any way I can, Jaemin.** _

She quietly yelped. He was taken aback. Both of their eyes widened. It felt like time slowed down for the both of them. What was this?

_**Don't panic, you're okay! I didn't know that you could do that too, since you're a human… except…** _

His focus narrowed down to the subtle glow, and Sunni quickly realized it as well. Now she had questions with no answers. One of those questions happened to be…

_Where the hell did Suki find this thing?_

That was a question to be answered later.

"Okay!" she physically shouted.

The boys' chaos eventually died down.

"I know I've just met all of you in less than a day, and that you probably don't completely trust me yet…" she awkwardly began.

They all exchanged glances.

"But you guys could use all the help you can get, and I'm not sure if you guys remember that you inspired so many people from all over the world, even me at my darkest moments. Hell, even the letters on my locket match the ones engraved under that picture!"

As soon as she said that, the boys quickly turned back to the picture, particularly the engraving on the bottom of it.

**"H M D..."** Mark read aloud.

**"... Z P N J"** The rest joined in and finished altogether.

All seven letters. In the same order as her locket.

"Hell no!" Jeno backed up with his hands up, clearly spooked.

"Oh wait it's our f--" Chenle realized before his hands covered his mouth and shut him up out of nowhere. Jisung's eyes widened at the sight while Chenle was startled... at first.

"Don't tell me that this is some destiny or prophecy shit, that only pops up in movies." Renjun crossed his arms, recalling every fantasy movie with a quest or prophecy that he could think of on the top of his head.

Either that was an extremely specific coincidence, or Sunni really **_was_** part of something bigger. So of course, she knew what to do.

"I guess with everything considered in the past 24 hours, I think it'd be best if I do help… if that's alright with you all?"

There was awkward silence. Great.

"I mean.. if you want my help, that would mean I need to have a place to sleep if I ever need to stay overnight and food and water."

"Of course, we'd love to have a new roomie!" Chenle squealed as Jisung nodded in excitement. Both of them proceeded to hug their new semi-roommate while giving their elders the puppy eyes. Jisung was doing his best with his small but adorable eyes, but Chenle was really selling it. Especially to Haechan and Jeno.

"If you can forgive us for upsetting you so harshly last night, then I'm okay with you hanging out with us," Haechan mumbled.

"I guess it would be nice to have a girl in here for a change," Jeno nodded.

_"Wha-- Jeno!"_ Renjun thought to himself. He was on the verge of demanding him to take that statement back. _"They can't be serious."_

Haechan then nudged Mark with his elbow while Chenle and Jisung made their puppy eyes and adorable pouts bigger.

"Okay okay, count me in as well. Like Haechan said, we know we… No, **they** caused you some trouble last night, but we'd be more than happy to become friends." He ran his hand through his messy bedhead.

It was all up to Renjun now.

"To be blunt, I'm not really okay with the idea of you staying over here whenever possible. If you don't _really_ bother me, however, I see no problem."

He uncrossed his arms and retreated back into his room without saying another word. Everyone was in shock, except for Jeno, Jaemin, and Haechan, who were quite used to his unfriendly demeanor.

"That was a… yes?" Sunni quietly asked.

"Actually," Jeno started, "That was the most honest and positive answer he's ever given since we've been here."

_WHAT?_

"He kinda said yes," Haechan added, "I think?"

_**Just go with it.** _

"Okay great," Sunni smiled, "Let's get started then!"

And while everyone else was excited and mildly celebrating, Jaemin quietly smiled and nodded in agreement.

-///-

_**DING DING!** _

That particular sound came from the kitchen, startling everyone… and ruining such a sweet and important moment.

The boys, particularly Mark, ran over to identify what was making such a ruckus. The sound in question belonged to a cell phone with a turquoise case that was charging near the microwave in the back corner. It wasn't just anyone's phone, however.

"How did you charge it?!" Sunni gasped. Last time she checked, her phone was as dead as Suki would have been if Jin-Joo hadn't saved him from Bora's wrath.

"Surprisingly, my ghost charger can still charge actual phones. I figured that out while you were asleep last night because we felt bad." Mark explained.

"Honestly, I'm still surprised about the logic of that," Jeno admitted.

"Ditto," Chenle and Haechan added. Jisung quickly nodded as well, scratching his head.

Jaemin glanced over at her notifications and raised his eyebrows.

"These look important," He unplugged her fully charged phone and handed it to her.

Sunni turned on her phone and scrolled her missed notifications. Three of them caught and gained her full attention.

"15 text messages from my brother and 10 text messages from my best friend… I should probably text them back now," She read aloud.

"Hm, it's just text messages, nothing too importa--" Mark commented.

**"'NCT Three 엔시티 'Fallen Angel' MV Teaser'?"**

While she was both in complete excitement and shock, the six remaining boys were quite confused.

"Who?" Haechan legitimately asked.

**Little did they know.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh goodness i am so so sorry!
> 
> M has been very busy lately and school's gonna start soon, but will try to write as much as possible :3
> 
> this week's thoughts:  
> \---- I am very very proud that Chenle got to message Stephen Curry, AND THAT STEPHEN CURRY MANAGED TO MESSAGE HIM BACK! Now they're friends and hopefully they'll get to meet as soon as things get better!  
> \---- Taeil + Jeno in the "It's Awkward but It's Okay" series is AMAZING and unexpected and wholesome!  
> \---- ChenJi's This and That HAS BEEN REVIVED for season 2 and I'm loving it... Can't wait to see what's in store this season!  
> \---- NCT Dream's 4th Anniversary is in a few days from now and I'm excited to celebrate! Proud of the Dreamies for doing so well and doing so much in 4 years :)  
> \---- I'm waiting for more NCT comebacks especially SuperM's Tiger Inside MV  
> \---- FIGHTING!


	9. HIATUS (for now)

Oh goodness...

I am so sorry, but this story will be on hiatus for two reasons:

1\. School's kicking my butt rn and I have so much going on schoolwise at the moment!

2\. I've been having the worse case of writer's block for this story and it's so upsetting...

I want this story to be the best it can be and I just haven't had the time to really focus and work on this story more but my ideas/plans for this are at least solidified.

I **will** return to this story as soon as I get a break and my creative juices flow once again!

Thank you for your patience :)

(this chapter will be deleted once the story starts back up again!)

**AT THE MEANTIME, stay tuned for more stories coming at ya from me! :)**


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